It was June 20th, 1846, when the ship Brooklyn arrived in Honolulu, Oahu. Its passengers were hundreds of Mormon immigrants en route to California from New York led by a man named Samuel Brannan. The people of Hawaii were intrigued and confused by these new people, especially such a vast amount. The unknown elements were filled in by a history of the Mormon religion and its people.
The...
The little coastal steamer, only 105 feet in length and 152 tons in weight, chugged up the Miami River towards the settlements on the interior. It was hardly a triumphant parade of U.S. naval power. The Sailing Master of such a flagship was one Edward C. Anderson, and he took in the alien landscape as it passed on either side. Upon arriving at Miami, he found it to be little more than a collection...
Samuel Morse was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts on April 27th 1791. Morse was educated in prestigious institutions nationally, including Phillip's Academy at Andover and Yale University. From 1811 until 1815, Morse lived in England, exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy in 1813. The next ten years of his life were spent as a traveling artist. In 1832, Morse began his travels back to America...
The first federal building to be constructed on Key West, which is the southern-most point of the United States, Fort Taylor was begun in July of 1846. The fort was built in order to protect the natural harbor of Key West and was named for General Zachary Taylor, who was commander of American forces in the Mexican-American War which had also begun that year. Although the fort was all but destroyed...
Confusion surrounding the New Orleans mint had gained President Van Buren's attention by 1839. Money was found to be simply disappearing after being deposited. John H. Holland was federal marshal for eastern Louisiana during the time of the confusion surrounding his and other accounts at the mint. Thousands of dollars had disappeared or was not paid in several instances to the government...
In 1845 Jacob Enders, an undertaker employed by Dr. Marcus B. Buck of Fluvanna County, Virginia, constructed a coffin, dug a grave, and buried an African American child for the total fee of two dollars and seventy-five cents. This receipt of service is included in a collection of other receipts and letters; a doctor's bill from one John Thomson, dated December 29, 1840 and a letter from Buck's...
Lunsford Lane, a former slave, confidently declared in his autobiography, "I strove to keep self-possessed and employed in my mind day and night planning how I might be FREE." Lunsford Lane was born a slave in Raleigh, North Carolina and self-published an autobiography in 1845 recounting his experiences in slavery and his determination to buy his and his family's freedom. Lane was born and...
A letter from Geo B. Matthew to Lord Stanley in 1845 gives us a unique insight into the way in which the slave trade was operated. Matthew gives reports of ships with "Colored" crews that have been wrecked and the crews were sold into slavery. The letter also shows us a comparison between slaves in the United States, as compared to other parts in the world.
As opposed to obtaining slaves...
During the nineteenth century, one female author stood out as a voice for women during a time when many were not acknowledged. Margaret Fuller wrote “Woman in the Nineteenth Century” and spoke with a voice for every woman who lived during the nineteenth century. In particular, Fuller had an especially critical view toward marriage. She explained that the idea of marriage “has been inculcated...
Economic Forces Shaping the African American Experience (1600-1877)
Primary Source: Slaves and the Courts. “Trial and Imprisonment of Jonathan Walker at Pensacola, Florida, for Aiding Slaves to Escape From Bondage.” Boston, Pub. at the Anti-slavery office, 1845. Accessed November 1, 2014.
Jonathan Walker’s...